As an optical connector capable of easing a work for attaching the optical connector to an optical fiber on a spot at a working site and shortening a time required for the work, an optical connector shown in FIG. 6 has been developed.
An optical connector 100 shown herein has been disclosed in the following Patent Document 1 and serves to match a site optical fiber 104 maintained in a coated state with an end of a built-in optical fiber 102 provided in a ferrule 101 and to thus couple them to a rear end of the ferrule 101, and furthermore, to interpose and fix the site optical fiber 104 by means of a positioning mechanism 105 covering a periphery of a matched part.
The positioning mechanism 105 is a so-called splice member and includes a base member 111 provided with V grooves 111a and 111b for positioning the respective optical fibers 102 and 104 in such a manner that a center of the coated optical fiber 104 is coincident with that of the built-in optical fiber 102, a cover member 112 superposed on the base member 111 to press each of the optical fibers 102 and 104 against each of the V grooves 111a and 111b, and a clamp member 114 for energizing the base member 111 and the cover member 112 in a bonding direction.
A wedge is inserted in a joining surface of both the base member 111 and the cover member 112 and can be thus opened against an energizing force of the clamp member 114, and the optical fiber 104 is inserted in the V groove 111b and the wedge is then pulled out so that the optical fiber 104 is interposed and positioned between the base member 111 and the cover member 112 by the energizing force of the clamp member 114, which is not shown.
A plug housing 121 is put on and attached to the positioning mechanism 105.
The plug housing 121 is constituted by a front housing 125 having a step-like positioning portion 123 for positioning front end portions of the base member 111 and the cover member 112 which form the positioning mechanism 105 through a collision, and a rear housing 127 which accommodates the positioning mechanism 105 from a rear end side thereof and is thus coupled to a rear end of the front housing 125.
The rear housing 127 is coupled to and integrated with the front housing 125 by engaging an engaging projection 127b of an engaging portion 127a extended forward with an engaging portion 125a provided on the front housing 125.
The rear housing 127 includes a spring member 129 for energizing the positioning mechanism 105 forward to elastically position the front end portions of the base member 111 and the cover member 112 in an abutting state on the positioning portion 123 of the front housing 125.
A boot 131 for protecting the optical fiber 104 extended from the positioning mechanism 105 is put on and attached to a rear part of the rear housing 127. Moreover, a connector knob for offering an appearance is put on and attached to an outer periphery of the plug housing 121, which is not shown.
In the optical connector 100, the positioning mechanism 105 and the ferrule 101 are elastically supported by the spring member 129 accommodated in the rear housing 127. In a connection to a partner optical connector, therefore, the ferrule 101 abutting on the partner optical connector can be moved backward by an elastic force to relieve a shock.
In the optical connector 100, moreover, it is possible to finish a connector assembling work by simply matching the site optical fiber 104 with the end of the built-in optical fiber 102 in the positioning mechanism 105 without peeling the coating. In the assembling work on the site, therefore, peeling of the coating of the site optical fiber 104 to expose a core wire, and furthermore, a time and labor for cleaning the exposed core wire are not required. Consequently, it is possible to simplify a processing on the site, thereby enhancing a workability.    Patent Document 1: Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2005-345753